


Recharging

by kuro



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-09
Updated: 2014-06-09
Packaged: 2018-02-04 01:33:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1761909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuro/pseuds/kuro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony is not his usual self after a very successful charity gala. The Avengers wonder what's going on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Recharging

**Author's Note:**

> This was an anonymous prompt over on tumblr:
> 
> Hi, if you're feeling like taking prompts could I give you one? :) MCU, the rest of the Avengers realizing that Tony is secretly a giant introvert.

The whole evening, Tony had been the picture of an entertaining host, effortlessly charming the pants off each and every guest at the charity gala. For once, the Avengers had managed to make an appearance as a whole set, but maybe with the exception of Thor and his magnetic personality, everyone paled in comparison to Tony. Not that any of them complained that they weren’t expected to schmooze and entertain quite as much as these two did.

It had been a lovely evening, free of any intergalactic incidents or supervillains who decided to use that very evening to try their hand at world domination. So when they finally piled into the limousine that would bring them home from the gala, all of the Avengers were in a pretty good mood. They joked with each other, feeling relaxed and just tired enough that everything seemed a little bit funnier than it usually was.

“Tony?” Steve asked suddenly, smile dropping into a slight frown. “Are you okay?”

The rest of the Avengers turned their heads to where Tony had been sitting quietly since the beginning of the ride, not taking part in their conversation. Tony gave them a small, apologetic smile.

“I am,” he said. “Sorry.”

And with that, he turned his head and continued staring silently out of the window.

They looked at each other for a moment, unsure how they should react to that. Then, Natasha shrugged and continued the conversation that Steve had interrupted.

* * *

 

Tony disappeared after that. It wasn’t really unusual, Tony did tend to disappear into his workshop for extended periods of time, but after what had happened in the limousine, his absence stuck out more than usual.

Clint, forever curious, tried to sneak down into the workshop once or twice, but he was ungently intercepted by Natasha.

“What?” Clint asked her, a little annoyed. “Aren’t wondering what’s going on with our resident genius?”

“And sneaking around like a creeper is going to help that?” Natasha shot him down with a raised eyebrow.

Clint gritted his teeth, but he couldn’t really disagree with that. If Tony didn’t want to interact with them, there was little they could do.

* * *

 

Later that day, a call from Rhodey came when the Avengers (still minus Tony) were sitting in the living room, watching TV. Steve looked a bit surprised that JARVIS asked him to answer the call, but he didn’t disagree when JARVIS changed the TV screen into a video call.

“Hello, Avengers,” Rhodey greeted them. “Tony is not answering his phone, so I just wanted to make sure he’s okay. Is he down in the workshop?”

“I think he’s alright?” Steve answered, sounding a little unsure. “He’s just been locked up in his workshop since yesterday after the gala.”

“Ah,” Rhodey said, not looking very surprised. “I had figured as much. Don’t worry, he’ll be out soon enough.”

“That’s all?” Clint demanded to know, scowling deeply. “Excuse me, but I’m missing something here. What am I missing?”

Rhodey sighed. It was a sound that they all were pretty familiar with by now, because it usually meant _oh, Tony._

“He just needs to recharge for a bit,” Rhodey tried to explain. “He’s really… not that good with crowds.”

Clint huffed doubtfully, because if there was someone who was really, _really_ good with crowds, it was Tony.

“Have you ever noticed just how much time he spends down in that workshop?” Rhodey continued, ignoring Clint’s doubtful face. “He likes attention, and he’s a bit of a showboat sometimes, but he spends a much larger proportion of time on his own. Do you think he’s unhappy about that?”

“No,” Steve answered, “he’s usually much more happy and relaxed after… _ah._ ”

“There you go,” Rhodey said with an approving smile. “Just let him be, and remind him to call me once he’s back in the world.”

And with a last goodbye, he ended the video call. Clint continued to stare at the screen at little grumpily, but they all quietly settled back in to continue watching the film they had been watching before.

* * *

 

Tony eventually ended up coming out of hiding only a little later, and he quietly sat down on one of the still unoccupied sofas to continue watching the film with the rest of them.

A moment later, Clint flopped over the backside of the sofa and halfway into Tony’s lap.

“Hello, asshole,” Clint greeted him, glaring up at him a little.

“Hey Legolas,” Tony smiled back. “Miss me?”

Clint only huffed with indignation, not bothering to respond to that.

He didn’t complain when Tony started to gently scratch the back of his head, though.


End file.
